Joyce Namugambe
The Uganda Media Women Association UMWA is to develop an online APP with an aim of developing a standardized reporting format for female journalists to report on the violations they face, and enable prompt reporting of these violations.
For the last 2-3 years, UMWA has been deliberate on safety and security of journalists through training female journalists on issues concerning their safety and security and as well engaged stakeholders, media managers and producers on how best they can provide a safe working environment for female journalists.
In this way, UMWA tried to find out the safety measures to female journalists in different media organisations that they managed to visit, but unfortunately some media managers’ did not provide the right information about their safety policies to female journalists. This was seen as one of the managers noted that they give female journalists a period of 3 months maternity leave yet one of the female journalists within the same organisation stressed that they are given only one month maternity leave and only extended after the mother gets some complications after delivery.
While moderating a one day key stakeholders workshop which targeted seeking stakeholders input on how the App is to work, which took place at UMWA offices in Kisaasi, UMWA communications and advocacy officer Brenda Namata revealed that after the survey in different media organisations, they found out that most female journalists go through challenges and violations but very few of them come out to speak.
This is because of different reasons some of them being that such female journalists do not know where to run to or even fear to expose the perpetuators, some have knowledge gaps on how to speak out, some are affected by the silent culture, and others do not have a formal structure of speaking about the challenges they go through.
According to Brenda, this and other reasons attracted UMWA to think of an online platform to create a safe space for female journalists to come out and open up on violation stories so that they can get help out of the violations and also be helped on how to manage and overcome the damages they get after the violations.
This online APP, which is still under discussions and consultation stages to see that it fits UMWA’s objectives, is expected to be done before the end of this year after being submitted to the developers.
It is expected to cover information about the female journalists reporting about violations or witnesses such as General information, Victim information, incident details, perpetrator’s information, impact and consquencies, any other additional information, report submission, Fact checking, and App Name, which information can be used to follow up on the victims and help them.
